Sacramento gas prices won't budge from $4-a-gallon-plus level

Sacramento-area gas prices are stubbornly clinging to the $4-a-gallon-plus threshold.

Price tracker GasBuddy.com, which surveys more than 700 regional gas outlets daily, said the average retail price of gas rose rose about a penny to $4.02 a gallon over the past week. The current average is 20.2 cents higher than a year ago and about a penny higher than last month.

Nationally, the average pump price fell 2.3 cents to $3.65 a gallon – down nearly a penny from last month but 17.5 cents higher than this time last year.

Patrick DeHaan, GasBuddy’s senior petroleum analyst, said the national average was declining “as motorists were hitting the road for July 4,” but pump prices in many U.S. locales were at the highest Independence Day levels since 2008.

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DeHaan believes relief could be on the way: “Gas prices over the next few weeks could fall more than 10 cents a gallon should (hurricane season and tensions in Iraq) remain quiet, which is most welcome as the peak of the summer driving season comes into focus.”